3,741 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Bought by Blankinship & Foster LLC

Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $56.24 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.92 and a 200-day moving average of $69.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.